Native wildflowers for Florida gardens
“Native wildflowers give you color, pollinators, and resilience in one easy package.”
Native wildflowers are some of the most rewarding plants you can grow in Florida: they are beautiful, they thrive on little water and care, and they feed the bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that keep a garden alive. They also carry a sense of place that no imported annual can match.
From the cheerful tickseed that is Florida's state wildflower to the spires of blazing star, our native wildflowers offer color across the seasons. Here are the ones we recommend most for Palm Beach County gardens, and how to grow them.
Why grow native wildflowers
Native wildflowers are adapted to our soils, heat, and rainfall, so once established they generally need little supplemental water or fertilizer and few inputs of any kind. They are about as low-maintenance as flowering plants get here.
They also do real ecological work, providing nectar and pollen for native bees and butterflies and supporting the broader food web. With wildflowers, beauty and habitat come in the same easy package.
Tickseed — the state wildflower
Tickseed, or coreopsis, is Florida's official state wildflower, and its bright yellow daisy-like blooms light up roadsides and gardens alike. Several species suit home gardens, flowering generously in sun with almost no care.
It self-sows and naturalizes, giving you drifts of cheerful color that return on their own. As an easy, iconic native, it is a perfect place to start.
Blanketflower and beach sunflower
Blanketflower (gaillardia) brings warm red-and-yellow blooms and exceptional toughness, thriving in heat, sand, and salt with ease. It is a natural for hot, dry, coastal spots where little else flowers happily.
Beach sunflower is a low, spreading native that covers ground in sunny yellow blooms and shrugs off salt and drought. Both are superb, carefree choices for the toughest sunny areas of the yard.
Tough, sun-loving, and self-sowing — native wildflowers do the most for the least.
Blazing star and goldenrod
Blazing star (liatris) sends up striking purple spikes that pollinators swarm, adding vertical drama to a wildflower planting and blooming when many other flowers fade. It is a favorite of butterflies in particular.
Goldenrod, much maligned but blameless for hay fever, lights up the cooler months with golden plumes that are a critical late-season nectar source for pollinators. Together they extend the bloom season toward winter.
Salvia and spiderwort
Native scarlet salvia (salvia coccinea) offers red tubular flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies love, blooming for months and self-sowing politely around the garden. It is an easy, generous native for sun or part shade.
Spiderwort brings cheerful blue-purple flowers in the cooler season and tolerates a range of conditions. Both add color and pollinator value with very little effort.
How to grow them
Most native wildflowers want full sun and good drainage, which our sandy soils provide naturally, and they generally resent rich soil and heavy fertilizer. Plant them, water them in, and then largely leave them alone.
Let some go to seed so they self-sow and naturalize, and resist the urge to over-tidy, since seed heads feed birds and standing stems shelter insects. A little restraint is exactly what wildflowers want.
Start your wildflower patch
A sunny corner, a few tough native wildflowers, and a hands-off approach are all it takes to add color and pollinator life to your yard. Start small, let it self-sow, and expand as the patch establishes.
We can help you choose wildflowers suited to your light and soil, and combine them for color across the seasons. Come explore the natives at the nursery and we will help you get started.
Frequently asked questions
What native wildflowers grow well in Florida?
Tickseed (coreopsis), blanketflower, beach sunflower, blazing star, goldenrod, scarlet salvia, and spiderwort are all easy, beautiful natives that thrive here and feed pollinators.
Are native wildflowers hard to grow?
No — most want full sun and good drainage, which our sandy soils provide, and they resent rich soil and heavy fertilizer. Plant them, water them in, and largely leave them alone.
Will wildflowers come back every year?
Many self-sow and naturalize, returning on their own if you let some flowers go to seed. Leaving seed heads also feeds birds and shelters insects.
Plant a yard that's alive.
We'll help you choose the nectar, host, and habitat plants that bring pollinators and wildlife to your Florida yard.